Kids Put Own Stamp on School Fundraising

Molly Clark, 9, left, and her sister Hannah, 11, work on their drawings for a new program that allows children to turn their artwork into actual postage stamps in Mission Viejo, Calif., Saturday, Sept. 30, 2006. Schools are using this as fundraising project, the company, ArtStamps, has approval for all this through the United States Postal Service. (AP Photo/Chris Carlson) (Chris Carlson - AP)

Hannah's school district adopted the project as a fundraiser this year. Schools collect the drawings, the orders and the money, then ship them in and wait for stamps to arrive.

"There's a 'cool' factor with it," said Hannah's dad, Chris, who leads the fundraising foundation for the school district. "The kids are actually making postage stamps."

Plus, he said: "People get tired of the same old fundraisers. We all have a decade's worth of wrapping paper. We can't really go to our neighbors and ask them to buy more."

Schools count on kids to help raise money for band equipment, field trips and other classroom expenses that aren't covered by tax revenue, especially in times of budget cuts.

Howie Schaffer, spokesman for a network of groups that raise private money for public schools, says students shouldn't be burdened with fundraising. Foundations and corporations are a preferable source of supplemental money for schools, he said.

"The responsibility of children is to come to class and be ready to learn," said Schaffer, who works for the Public Education Network.

"Nowhere does it say, 'And when you're out of class, we need to have you tap all your relatives to have them buy stamps or candy.' That's not a core competency of children."

Some educators say art is a smart fundraiser, though. Schools can include the stamp design work into their art classes, or send a packet home so parents can be involved.

"It fits a need, especially with my higher achieving students," said Karen Ayres, the principal at Cielo Vista Elementary, where kids are working on their stamps. "They want more opportunity for the arts. And with this, they're not out door to door, selling candles."

The company is pitching the fundraising idea, but schools don't need to be involved. ArtStamps accepts orders for stamps and notecards from the general public, too.

There's no editing involved, though there are limitations. Art will be rejected if it is obscene, or if it contains images of weapons, celebrity likenesses or political themes.

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On The Net:

ArtStamps: http://www.myartstamps.com